The Diplomacy of Decolonisation: America, Britain and the United Nations during the Congo Crisis, 1960–1964 by Alanna O’Malley
| Published date | 01 March 2019 |
| Date | 01 March 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702019831627 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Peoples represents the first time that Indigeneity has been included so prominently
in the series. Although badly overdue, recognition that Indigenous nations are
critical to understanding Canada’s foreign policy calculations is welcome.
Among the strongest contributions of this book and the Canada Among Nations
series generally is its capacity to dissolve the many myths and falsehoods circling
Canadian foreign policy and international affairs more broadly. This is particularly
illustrated by Lane’s assessment of the gendered language and coding surrounding
Trudeau’s defence policy commitments. As the political mendacity roiling away in
Washington seeps into Ottawa—Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer’s sug-
gestion in December 2018 that Canada was somehow sacrificing its sovereignty by
supporting the United Nations’ Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular
Migration is but one example—the authors who deftly disrupt assumptions about
Canadian foreign policy and foreign policymaking stand out.
Specialists of global politics require a series that helps them connect the puzzle
pieces of Canadian foreign policy and uncover the assumptions about our field.
Future editors’ commitment to articulating that purpose to its audience will be
essential as Canada Among Nations settles into its new era with Palgrave
Macmillan.
Alanna O’Malley
The Diplomacy of Decolonisation: America, Britain and the United Nations during the Congo
Crisis, 1960–1964
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2018. 224 pp. £75.00 (cloth)
ISBN: 978-1-5261-1626-0
Reviewed by: Colin McCullough (colinemccullough@gmail.com), Ryerson University
The independence of the Congo in July 1960 saw a population that had suffered
from the brutal dictates of the direct rule of Belgium’s King Leopold, and later
Belgium itself, join other African nations in being able to control its destiny. But
Congolese independence also had significant international repercussions. Alanna
O’Malley’s new work, The Diplomacy of Decolonisation: America, Britain and the
United Nations during the Congo Crisis, 1960–1964, suggests that Congolese inde-
pendence and the subsequent crisis that precipitated the introduction of
Operation des Nations Unies au Congo (ONUC) were crucial in shaping Anglo-
American thinking about how the Cold War and decolonization intersected for
years to come.
For those not familiar with the crisis, the book offers a look at the events in the
Congo in a chronological set of chapters, though there is an emphasis on the events
of 1960 to January 1963, when the secession of the province of Katanga was finally
ended through the use of force by the UN, with American assistance. There is a
useful list of leading figures of the book at its outset, including UN secretary Dag
Hammarskjo
¨ld and Congolese prime minister Patrice Lumumba, both of whom
grace the cover of the book and were killed there during the crisis. Hammarskjo
¨ld’s
184 International Journal 74(1)
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